Chapter 3

"You forgot, didn't you?"

"Then do you remember when your relationship with her stopped being innocent?"

I stared at him with chilling calm. "Do you remember what you swore to me after the night your pheromones went out of control and I caught you two together?"

Silence choked the living room. The faint scent of cedarwood hung in the air, dragging our memories back to the past.

Lily Dixon was an Omega Allen had brought back from a border patrol two years ago. Back then, her family had tried to marry her off to the son of a neighboring town's mayor, and she had wept about her cruel fate.

She cried about how hard it was to put herself through school, condemning her biased parents. That fierce, defiant look in her eyes had moved Allen.

The wealthy Alpha took pity on her. He brought her back and set her up in a guest villa not far from the packhouse.

He bought her property, gave her a carriage, and granted her access to the pack's vaults.

Slowly, Allen grew closer to her while drifting further from me, eventually neglecting our own pup entirely.

Then came a full moon night when Allen went to the wrong bed.

When I found out, he had dropped to his knees, grabbing my hands and slapping his own face with them over and over.

"I'm sorry, Lynn! Blame me! I had too much to drink at the pack banquet, and I forced myself on her..."

"I swear it was just this once. I won't see her again. Once she graduates, I'll cut off her sponsorship completely."

And then, Lily Dixon wound up pregnant.

A venomous smirk touched my lips. "Allen, care to explain how you only lost control that one time a year ago, yet she's eight months pregnant right now? Did werewolf biology suddenly bend to your will?"

"Enough!"

Confronted by the truth, Allen's expression darkened completely.

"I'll explain all of that to you later."

"Where's Caden? Why didn't you bring him home? It was just a scratch. Was it really worth keeping him at the clinic this long?"

The thought of my baby boy hammered against my heart like a thousand iron sledges.

I unclasped the mating pendant from my neck and placed it on the entryway console, right beside the folded death certificate.

"His Rite of Returning is in three days."

"Find some time to come see him. And while you're at it, let's finalize the dissolution of our mate bond."

Allen's eyes dropped to the pendant, then flicked to the paper. Suddenly, he let out a short, incredulous laugh.

"What a coincidence."

He shoved the pendant and the paper back toward me.

"Look, I'm sorry. I didn't think a tiny scratch could turn into such a big deal."

"I know you're upset, but it doesn't matter. Lily is delivering in three days."

"After everything, she's very obedient and grateful. I've already worked it out with her—once the pup is born, we'll hand it over to you to raise. You can just focus on being the Luna. My only condition is that Lily gets to visit the child whenever she wants."

I froze, staring at him in utter disbelief.

"Allen! Listening to yourself right now, are you even a beast?!"

My shout echoed through the hall, waking Lily Dixon in the master bedroom.

Allen shot me a disapproving glare.

"Keep your voice down. Lily is napping with the baby."

*SLAP!*

A crisp crack rang out. Allen's head jerked to the side, his eyes turning glacial as he snapped his gaze back to me.

"Feel better now?"

"Stop playing these childish games. Nobody dies from a tiny silver scratch... Dragging Caden into your lies like this—aren't you worried you'll corrupt him?"

He didn't believe the death certificate. Not a single word of it.

An overwhelming wave of exhaustion crushed down on me. I picked up the mating pendant, stared straight into Allen's eyes, and spoke with deadly clarity:

"I, Lynn Anderson, reject you, Allen Foster, as my mate."

The moment the words left my lips, an agonizing tear ripped through my chest—the backlash of the severing bond. I gritted my teeth, refusing to let myself fall.

The mocking smile on Allen's face instantly froze. His lips parted, but no sound came out.